Photograph; Appalachian Children. Tumblr.
By Paul L. Thomas, Ed.D. | Originally Published at the Becoming Radical. May 20, 2014
The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.
Henry David Thoreau, Walden
Since October 1999, when I experienced several weeks of unrelenting panic attacks, I have been negotiating my lifelong struggle with anxiety—many of those years spent completely unaware of the problem and then coming to recognize and even understand a condition that to most people seems completely irrational (even silly).
Not to slip into being simplistic, one of the foundational ways in which I have come to understand better anxiety is that my body responds to the civilized world in ways that prehistory demanded.
In other words, when human existence depended on a constant state of vigilance, anxiety, that quality was passed on from human to human since those humans most vigilant—most aware of the world around them—lived long enough to procreate.
Now, although no mountain lion lies in wait to pounce upon me and make me its lunch, I live in a constant state as if that were true—hyperaware of both the world and every possibility about that world.
And that is the seemingly irrational part for those who do not experience incessant anxiety. Of course, I